2016 Aug 09 GJRKrishnan Vijayalakshmi TumkurBRavishankar UNGiridharUdupa @ Unnati

Violin Duet: Vid. GJRKrishnan Vijayalakshmi
Mridanga: Vid. TumkurBRavishankar 
Ghata: Vid. UNGiridharUdupa 

Ocassion:: 39th Gokulashtami Celebrations at SGBS Trust / Unnati

01 nIvE gatiyani niratamu ni padamule mammiti naLinakAnti Adi Lalgudi Jayaraman (O)

02 muddumOmu ElAgu celangEnO sUryakAnta tALa thyAgarAja(O, S ) 
Swaras @ muddu mOmu 

03 vENugAna lOluni ganavEyi kannulu gAvalene kEdAragauLa rUpaka thyAagaraja (A)

04 marugElarA O rAghavA jayanthashrI Adi thyAgarAja (O)

05 shrI rangapuravihAra brindhAvana sArangA rUpaA m.dikshitar (A, S)
Swara @ Sankata harana gOvinda 

06 shankari shamkuru candramukhi sAvEri Adi syAma sAstri (A, S)
Swara @ Shambhavi Sarasija Bhava Vandite Gauri

07 mOhana rAmA mukhajita mOhanam tyAgarAja (A, N, S, T)
Nereval @ mOhana rAma

08 RTP rasikapriyA chaturaSra tripuTa 2 Kalai Edupu 1.5 beats ??
rAga grahabedham into hamsanAdam

Pallavi Line: Krishna mukunda murAre vENugAna rasikapriya 
RAgamAlika swara in kAnaDa, varALi, KuntalavarALi, Sindhubhairavi

09 tIrAda vilayAttuppillai rAgamAlika mahAkavi subramanya bArati

10 bArO KrishNayyA mAND Adhi KanakadhAsa

11 tiruppugazh dwijAvanti Adi AruNagirinAthar

12 tillAna mOhankalyANi Adi LGJ

13 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

What are the benefits of being a fan of aesthetic music? There are no rewards for the guesses. You are treated to your heart's content with sampradAya sangIta, to an exclusive audience without the disturbance from the so called gallery crowd who thong the auditorium (I don’t know why, they love to come to disturb others through their chit-chat!), and get to occupy VIP reserved seats to get the best view of the artists on the stage.

Being a working day, had to plan the whole day at office to make myself available to attend this long awaited concert. When I attended TMK's concert a couple of days back, tried out the METRO option to reach the venue. Not a great experience though. In the name of convenience, I almost spent an additional 2 hrs away from home!

The hopes were high on the torch bearers of Lalgudi bAni. It was tradition all over, meditative to the core and there was something melodiously new and refreshing about the way each song was presented and improvised. Well, that’s what makes a great artist.

The curtains rolled up on the dot. Sticking to their tradition of announcing the songs, the first one, customary obeisance to Guru, the Sibling duo presented a refreshing naLinakAnti varNa without any additional kalpanA swarAs.

Then came the lilting muddumOmu, a brief AlApane to prelude and beautifully rounded off with kalpanA swarAs.

The first of the detailed AlApane came in form of a lilting kEdAragauLa, which showcased the rAga lakshaNa very well. The krithi was rendered nicely with few rounds of kalpanA swarAs.

The short outline of jayantaShri provided enough clue to the filler krithi " marugElara O rAghava" was in the queue

The next elaboration for the evening was brindAvana sAranga. It had all the rangu (colours) that the rAga could be decorated with. Brisk and leisurely sangatis in AlApane provided clue to the faster of the 2 masterpieces of muttuswAmi dIkshitar. The krithi " srI rangapura vihAra" was rendered soulfully. After a quick round of swarAs,

Without spacing with a filler, the duo dwelled into depths and breadths of sAvEri bringing out the best essence of yearning feeling. Felt like asking it to be followed up with a tAna before starting the kriti (as in a vINA concert), but felt a bit hesitant. "Shankari shamkuru" with a detailed neraval and swara prastAra was a treat. Of the 100 this concert scores, i would give this rendition itself 99.

The main course mOhana AlApane was quite elaborate and beautiful with duo sharing the mandra and tAra zones to compliment the sangatis of the other. The krithi "mOhana rAma" was rendered beautifully with neraval and swarAs at "mOhana rAma".

Vid. Tumkur Ravishankar was exact in his replies and played well with meticulously following the kriti and each sangati. Vid. Giridhar Udupa was good as well in adding his bit to the concert effect. The tani by the two percussionists was yet another separate treat.

With a brief VOT session (it was almost 2.5 hrs by then into the concert), the duo surprised the audience venturing into RTP. I would have been disappointed, if it were to be just a trailer, but they did not. The dwelled pretty well into raiskapriya. A overenthusiastic family seated behind me, prompting rAga names erring left right and center, too spoiled the mood during rAga tAna as they were continuously scratching their heads. graha bEdha into hamsanAdam was a treat to listen to and see the fingering.

Pallavi in chaturaSra tripuTa , 1.5 beat eDupu was rendered well embellished quickly with a set of rAgamAlika swaras

The post RTP course was filled with a rAgamAlika composition of bhAratiyAr, dwijAvanti tiruppugazh, on request mOhanakalyANi tillANa which were leisurely rendered.

The sibling duo were awesome throughout the concert and they well supported by the accompanists. A Pallavi billed into and extended time slot made the concert too good to remember for a long time. Well, it had everything that you could ask for in a violin concert.

 It will be a concert to remember for a long time.